title: Acute blindness.
abstract: A 15-year-old man presenting with cortical blindness as the initial symptom of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) is reported. He showed fluctuating consciousness and severe occipital headache with nausea and vomiting. T2 and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging showed high signal intensity in the occipital lobes. Electroencephalography showed diffuse sharp waves with focal epileptic discharges over the posterior region. The nature of stroke-like episodes and seizure mechanisms is unexplained in MELAS. Consequently, the possible mechanisms of the cortical blindness in this case are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Hotel Dieu de France Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Saint-Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon. halimabboud@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abboud
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sabbagh
mesh_terms: D000140:Acidosis, Lactic / Q000150:complications*; D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D001766:Blindness / Q000209:etiology*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications*; D020773:Headache Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017237:Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathies / Q000150:complications*; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications*